Rob Roy Beer Society Dinner

Carl
September 1, 2016Comment Closed

Rob Roy Hotel on Halifax Street has been hosting Society Dinners which focus on a particular drink and producer such as whisky, wine and beer. Each drink is paired up with a course made by the Rob Roy kitchen. I love the sound of it as in my head I imagine a secret group of people dabbling in the dark arts or partaking in a fight club event. So the first rule of Society night is “don’t talk about society night”. Actually that’s terrible for marketing purposes so please DO talk about society nights!

We were invited to the beer society night with the brewery in the spotlight being Stockade Brew Co. from Sydney. This particular brewery had yet to pass any beers through my lips so I was very excited to try. All cannot be sampled without some complimenting dishes provided by Rob Roy and we began with Spicy Crab Croquettes. I used to have croquettes at my gran’s house so I was running down memory lane with the added addition of a spicy crab flavour.

What I did not get from gran though was an incredibly smooth Duel Hoppy Lager. This was my favorite on the night with a perfect level of carbonation, hoppyness and flavour. On the bottles there is some impressive artwork that gives each beer even more personality and fun. My favourite artwork was on the 8-Bit IPA which has that typical IPA punch in the mouth that works great with spicy dishes. To answer such a call this was coupled with Barramundi in a spicy broth. I saw many people patting their mouths and exhaling from the heat. I could have gone hotter but then again my mouth has been known to contain asbestos.

Stockade did not forget that we are in the midst of winter and rolled out with some Session Stout. The word session refers to a lower level of alcohol (how dare they!). It was not quite to my liking as I love a thick, bold body in my stout with a deeper chocolate and coffee flavour. If you want to start on your journey of stout then I suppose this would be a gentle entry. Lamb Souvlaki was the stout’s partner in crime with some vegetables to freshen the mouth. The lamb was cooked perfectly with a nice pink center and great aroma.

As an encore another IPA was made available in the form of Stockade’s Red IPA. I want to mention the artwork on this one as it has two robots humping (teehee). As an IPA would be, it had a strong hoppy taste, taking you to the limit of whether it maybe too much but held back at the end. There was a whiff of floral scents too. This beer was held up with Rob Roy’s Braised Beef Ribs which were cooked like a pro. The meat slid off the bone when gently disturbed and had a wonderful meaty flavour to it. I would have loved more BBQ sauce as I am a man who loves his sauce!

Wrapping up was a very soft and smooth cheesecake with a caramel biscuit base. Also a generous chunk of cheese was offered if your inner mouse had not had enough. The pairing beer was an unusual choice to me. Stockade’s gold winning Chop Shop Pale Ale. It was the first time I’ve had cheese with a pale ale but I am open to new things. The Pale was good, although I am not a huge fan of pales. If you’re a fan then these guys won gold so give this champ a try!

We ended with a speech from Stockade and were offered some great deals on their beer at a price exclusive to Rob Roy Society Dinner. The venue was a perfect setting in a grand room with friendly staff. I love the concept of the night as it was great to be fed good food and information as well as beer which is the flame to my moth. If you’d like to attend one of their society dinners, check out their Facebook Event Page for upcoming Society Dinners. Thank you Rob Roy for letting us into your society dinner and Stockade Brew Co for a great drop!